Lakemaid Beer Tests Drone Delivery on Frozen Midwest Lakes

Lakemaid Beer is testing drone delivery of its beer to its ice fishing customers on frozen lakes in Minnesota and Wisconsin. The Lakemaid Beer Drone can be seen delivering a case of beer to ice fisherman via drone in this video. The test was successful, but the FAA currently restricts the commercial use of drones by small businesses so it may be a while before the idea becomes a reality. Another issue with this delivery system is the remote verification of the legal drinking age of ice anglers.

Lakemaid Beer Company president, Jack Supple, says in a release, "Amazon faces a lot of obstacles. Dense urban locations present a host of problems to drone delivery. But our tests are on vast, wide-open frozen lakes free of trees and power lines. Our drone can fly as the crow flies, straight to our target, based on GPS coordinates provided by an ice angler. Fish houses are very uniform in height, so we can fly lower than FAA limits, too. It's the perfect proving ground for drone delivery, Our initial tests on several mid-size lakes have been very successful. We're looking forward to testing the range of our drones on larger lakes."